Fire-shield



.(No'Model.)

. J. WOODRUFF.

FIRE SHIELD.

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WILSON J. WOODRUFF, OF FOSTER, IWA.

SPFcrrrcn'rron formingpartl of Letters' Patent No. 539,062, dated August e1, 1897.

Application filed September A15, 17896;] Serial No. 605,907@ (No model.) I

To all whom t 772.044/ concer/1,3

Be it known that I, `WILSON J. WOODRUFF,v a citizen of the United States, residing at Foster, in the countyof Monroe and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Shields, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in shields for use by firemen and the like, and has for its object to provide a device of this description which shall be simple in construction, easy of operatiomand which will afford a perfect protection to firemen in approaching in close proximity to a burning building for the purpose of directing streams of water thereon.

With these ends in View this invention consists in the details of construction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth and then specilicallydesignated by the claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains may understand how to make and use thesame, its construction and operation will now be described in detail,referring to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which I Figure l is a perspective illustrating therapplication and use of my improvement; Fig. 2, ay central vertical section of the screen; and Fig. 3, a detail perspective of a portion of the screen, showing the sockets for increasing its width or folding the sections thereof together.

In carrying out my invention I provide a frame of strip metal, preferably iron, consisting of a number of uprights A and cross-rails B, which may be of the desired width, so as to afford proper protection to the firemen in approaching the flames, and upon this framework is secured a series of plates C, of sheetiron, asbestos, or other suitable material,

Y A through which are formed the holes D to be utilized' for the directing of streams of water upon the fire and are therefore of a height from the ground which would correspond to the position in which Ythe nozzle of a hose is usually held. The end uprights of the shield extend below the lower rail thereof, as indicated at E, and serves thepurpose of feet to support the shield when in use, and in order that the shield may be further supported I provide the stay-rods F, which are stapled or otherwise secured to the shield at G, their opposite ends being provided with handholds I-I. Thus when the shield is to be used these stayrods are grasped bya number of iiremenand the shield thereby run into place, after which it may be either held by the firemen continuing to hold the stay-rods or it may be set after the manner of an easel by placing the lower ends of the stay-rods lin 'contact with thev ground, as clearly-shown in Fig. l. Vhen the shield is in place, it is obvious that firemen may approach within close proximity to the fiames and ydirect streams of Water upon said fiames through the openings D, which will serve as rests for the nozzles as well as observation-holes. From this it will be seen that the firemen may be protected, and at the same time greater facility afforded the application of water to the burning building.

For convenience in extending the shield, so as to increase its width to prevent the spread of [ire from one building to another and enable the firemen to gain access to windows above the first Iioor by means of their l them when the location of the fire has been rcached'by the insertion of the end uprights of one half in the sockets of the other half, since by this method the transportation of the shield is facilitated. The most important use to which my improved shield may be put, and with great saving to property and life, is the placing of these shields between a burning building and buildings which have not yet been ignited, thereby preventing the spread of the fire from one building to another and enabling the firemen to confine the flames within a given space, which greatly increases the efficiency of the fire apparatus, in that their efforts are concentrated within a small area. This is clearly illustrated in Fig. l..

Since my improvement is cheap in construction, simple and durable, and readily handled with but little or no skill, it is especially adapted for use in all classes of fireextinguishing apparatus and under some cir- IOO eumst'ances will obriate the necessity of calling out lire-engines, since fire-extinguishers maybe used at such close range to the llames as to extinguish ordinary lires.

IVhen not in use, my improvement maybe stored in a small space, since its folding t0- gether facilitates this.

Having thus fu l ly described this invention, what is claimed as new and useful isl. A fire shield, consisting of uprights,

cross-rails and plates secured thereon, cer-V tain of said plat-es having holes formed therein, rods pivoted to the f'ame, and handholds formed upon said rods, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The herein-described combination of the uprights A terminating in feet E, rails B, plates C, certain of said plates having holes IVILSON J. WOODRUFI Vitnesses:

S. S. WILLIAMSON, M. R. PIERCE. 

